Questions for Paige Bleu

The Author



​​​​​1) When did you discover you wanted to become an author?

​​I was born a dreamer and a storyteller. When I was happiest, I would write, when I was saddest, I would write even more! Writing is like breathing... very organic. It feels natural to me, like it's woven itno who I am. I forgot that for a while and got caught up in a different place. I'd felt like I'd lost sight of who I was and drifted unfulfilled. Writing hrought me back to center. It helped me recgonize myself again.



​​2) If you had to choose, which author would you consider a mentor?

​​There are so many wonderfully talented writers that have influenced me. It would be difficult to choose one. But since you asked me to, I'd have to say C.S. Lewis. I feel in love with the abstract world he created and was heavily influenced by his willingness to push boundaries. He also had underlying messages and parables hidden in his stories. They were so artfully done, you would pick up on the subtleties, without being distraced by them.



​​3) Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Many! But I won't reveal them all here. The biggest message I hope readers ponder is that this world is far more infinite than any of our minds can conceive. Caught up in materialism, we've lost site of what's real. Loving, learning, creating, and most importantly...knowing yourself and finding true self. This story is an evlution of Wesley's journey of waking up, breaking down his paradigms, and seeing the world behind the veil. Learning what's real and what matters.



​​4) What was the hardest part of writing your book?

​​Time! Writing consumes me. I could write for hours, that actually works best for me. Things will just start unravelling from my mind and flying onto the screen. I always want to stay and finish it all. It's really difficult for me to turn it off. It will keep me up all night and make me crazy. But I have a job that requires a lot of travelling and road trips. It doesn't lend well to my obsessive writing habit, so there's a bunch of juggling to make it all happen. I have to manage my time so there's balance.



​​5) Have you ever submitted work to a publishing company?

​​No...I won't say in finite terms I never will, by not now. I'm not prepared to have the direction of my character's dictated by someone who doesn't understand them, just to make the book more marketable. I'm not a control freak, I just want the story to play out exactly how it was given to me in my mind. Unadulterated. My story was a gift...itcame to me when I needed it. It was only my part to write it. If I sell less boks because I don't have the 'marketing giants' behind my name, so be it. I know those who are meant to find it will.



​​6) If not, are you considering submitting "Finding Summerland" or are you going to continue with Self-Publishing?

​​Self publishing is my plan for the whole series. If I feel called to go another direction somewhere in the process, I'll listen to what my heart tells me then.



​​7) How long have you been intresting in writing? What sparked your interest?

​As a child I wrote poetry and short stories. Then as I got older, my writing became more serious and I won several essay awards. I guess I don't remember a time when I wasn't interested. Not until I grew up and swerved off course. I always loved reading too. I would lay out in the waist high grass on a blanket, and read for hours, daydreaming about the stories as I watched them play out in the clouds. It was like food for my imagination and I had the munchies all the time!



​​8) If you could sit down and have coffee with one of your characters, who would it be? Why?

​​Kai for sure. You get this sense with him that he knows so much more than you could possibly even conceive. He doesn't have many lines throughout the books, but his presence is still felt. He's a quiet, powerful force within. I'd love to sit next to him on the floor, on a bamboo mat, with a tea bowl, and pick his brain!



​​9) Are any of the characters made after real people?

​​There are many elements of many character's that are inspired from friends, family and various others I know. But not any one character is based of any one real person, only fragments. Think of them all as big frankensteins of personalities and bits! I'm in every one of them myself, at some point. I guess that makes me a monster too!



​​10) If you could have any author read your novel and review it, who would it be?

​​Stephanie Meyer. I loved her series and have respect for her as a writer. When I first started giving my books away to test groups, for feedback, I consistently heard back that it had a 'Twilight-ish' vibe. At first I was confused, there are no vapires of werewolves in my books, then I felt flattered. I understood the correlation they wre making about the supernatural, unusal love story. So I embraced the idea and began describing it accordingly. It would be totally cool to hear her feedback and see if she agreed. Or, just to know she read my book would be groovy!